1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to vehicles and more particularly to an assembly adapted to fasten a spare tire to an off-road vehicle or sport utility vehicle (SUV).
2. Background Art
Spare tires are almost always provided as standard equipment with most vehicles. In most passenger vehicles, the spare tire is located in the trunk or cargo compartment. Since most of these vehicles are utilized mainly for the movement of passengers, the trunk space is often under-utilized and the positioning of a spare tire in the trunk rarely occupies needed space. However, the situation with respect to light trucks, sport-utility and recreational vehicles, is much different. Due to the nature of these vehicles, interior storage space is often highly valued and an interior positioned spare tire would result in the undesirable reduction of precious cargo space. As a result, externally mounted spare tire carriers are often useful options for such vehicles.
One type of external tire carrier enables a spare tire to be mounted below or underneath the vehicle. However, this approach has proven relatively problematic for a number of reasons. Specifically, a tire mounted below the vehicle tends to reduce the vehicle's practical road clearance. This reduction in clearance may prevent the vehicle from entering into rough areas that require that the vehicle maintain a certain ground clearance. This is especially problematic for off-road vehicles where the primary function is carrying passengers and cargo to remote or relatively inaccessible areas over unpaved access roads. Also, a tire carrier mounted beneath the vehicle may occupy space otherwise available for a secondary fuel tank.
A second and more popular type of spare tire carrier is secured to the rear of vehicles, either by attachment to the rear body panel of the vehicle or, in the alternative, by attachment to the bumper and secured to the vehicle through a body mounted latch. However, these tire carriers may also present certain concerns. For example, those tire carriers supported exclusively by the body panel of the vehicle tend to vibrate significantly whenever the vehicle is in motion. In some circumstances, the combined forces exerted on the body panel as a result of the carrier weight and vibration may cause damage to the body panel. The tire carriers supported primarily through connection with the bumper and a body mounted latch, while less vibratory while the vehicle is in motion, tend to place a significant amount of stress on the body mounted latch as a result of the inherent instability of the bumper attachment of the carrier. Further, mounting the tire carrier on the bumper typically requires significant and irreversible modification of the bumper.
Another consideration with many conventional externally mounted spare tire carriers is that they are not well suited for vehicles with a rear door that opens upwardly or outwardly. With these types of vehicles, attaching the spare tire carrier to the rear door or in front of the rear door of the vehicle would effectively prevent the lift door from opening and, therefore, would reduce or prohibit access to the rear of the vehicle. Additionally, many conventional rear-mounted spare tire carriers are located so as to practically obscure the license plate of the vehicle in an undesirable fashion. Finally, while some spare tires are configured to be mounted on top of the cab of the vehicle, this solution may also present certain difficulties. For example, some people may have difficulty maneuvering the spare tire onto and off of the roof without help or without inadvertently damaging the roof.
Accordingly, without an improved externally mounted tire carrier assembly that provides for secure mounting and easy access to the spare tire, carrying a spare tire and/or replacing a flat tire on an SUV will continue to be sub-optimal.